The present invention relates to anti-cheating devices for gaming machines. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, the present invention relates an anti-cheating device for a slot machine, or the like, which detects or prevents the entry of a cheating device.
Gaming machines such as slot machines, draw poker machines, bingo machines, and the like are prevalent in casinos around the world. Such machines deal primarily in cash, tend to accumulate rather large sums of cash before collections are made, and, since all of the money is not removed from a machine in service, theft is difficult to detect. Thus, these machines are prime targets for tampering.
The evolution of cheating devices has, thus far, kept pace with the evolution of gaming machines. Techniques and devices were developed for tampering with purely mechanical slot machines. Methods included the use of magnets, drilling or cutting holes in the enclosure of the machine, using counterfeit xe2x80x9cslugsxe2x80x9d, or even a coin on a string. As gaming machine manufacturers replaced mechanical assemblies with electronic alternatives, cheating devices were developed to cheat these machines as well. For example, a generation of gaming machines employed mechanical devices to time the reels but used electronic circuitry to pay-out coins. A known cheating device used on this generation of machine would provide a contact closure causing the circuitry to continuously activate the feeder motor. The user of such a device could simply operate the feeder motor until the coin hopper was empty.
Over the past several years, gaming machine manufacturers have replaced the vast majority of mechanical components employed in such machines with electronic circuitry. Programmable circuits, especially microprocessor devices, have allowed manufacturers to incorporate a number of anti-cheating devices and methods which deter such cheating. For example, modern slot machines include a coin comparator which compares the magnetic signature of an inserted coin against the signature of a reference coin. Access to the coin counter is gained only if the compare is successful. If there is not a match, the inserted coin is directed to the coin return and the machine does not give a credit for the deposited coin. Such devices are effective in preventing a person from using counterfeit coins or slugs. A further example of an existing anti-tampering device is the optical coin counter used in the majority of modem slot machines. This device provides three LED""s which emit light across a coin path to three detectors. After a coin has been successfully compared, it falls through the coin path, sequentially disrupting the light striking the detectors. If a coin does not properly break the beams (e.g., traveling in the wrong direction through the coin counter as would a coin on a string), the counter produces an output which xe2x80x9ctiltsxe2x80x9d the slot machine thereby alerting casino workers and disabling the machine.
While these devices perform satisfactorily to prevent tampering in limited areas, they are wholly ineffective in discouraging cheating by the sophisticated thief using specially made cheating tools. Such tools are typically inserted either through the coin slot or through the coin chute and used to manipulate features internal to the gaming machine. For example, it is known that a tool may be formed from a thin elongated sheet of plastic which may be inserted in the coin slot. Without disclosing the mechanics of defeating the existing anti-cheating devices, it has been demonstrated that such a tool can be used to accumulate in excess of 40 credits per second on many slot machines. A user of such a tool can rapidly accumulate hundreds, or even thousands, of credits and then simply press the xe2x80x9ccash outxe2x80x9d button to receive cash from the machine.
In another example of sophisticated cheating, a tool is inserted through the coin chute to temporarily disable the coin detector on the feeder which pays out a jackpot. Such feeders attempt to feed a coin until a coin is detected or for several seconds if no coin is detected. Thus, with such a tool in place, a user will receive several coins for each coin the machine attempts to payout. With a modem slot machine, a person can accumulate credits by simply inserting coins and then, with a cheating tool in place, press the xe2x80x9ccash outxe2x80x9d button to receive several times the amount actually inserted in the machine. While most gaming machines are programmed to initiate a service call if too many consecutive attempts to feed a coin are unsuccessful, an experienced thief can receive as many as forty coins for each coin the machine attempts to pay out, without detection by the machine.
While a given cheating device may only be usable on a specific model of gaming machine, modifications may be made to create a similar tampering device for all known gaming machines. Thus, a thief armed with a relatively small assortment of tools can quickly cheat an array of machines, taking substantial amounts of cash in a relatively short period of time. Cheating tools tend to be relatively small and often formed mainly from transparent materials. An experienced thief can easily carry and use such tools with little risk of detection.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an anti-cheating device which prevents or detects the insertion of a cheating device through the coin slot of a gaming machine.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an anti-cheating device for a gaming machine which prevents or detects the insertion of a cheating device through the coin chute.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an anti-cheating device for a gaming machine which may be easily incorporated into an existing machine.
The present invention provides an anti-cheating device for a gaming machine which satisfies the needs and alleviates the problems mentioned above. In a preferred embodiment, the anti-cheating device prevents or detects the insertion of a cheating device through the coin slot. Known cheating devices which successfully defeat both the coin comparator and the coin counter employ, by necessity, an elongated, substantially rigid foundation. Thus, the insertion of such a device may be prevented by providing a nonlinear coin path, or alternatively, such a device may be detected by sensing for the presence of such an elongated object in the coin path.
For the purposes of this invention, the terms xe2x80x9canti-cheatingxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9canti-tamperingxe2x80x9d are used interchangeably as are the terms xe2x80x9ccheatxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccheatingxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ctamperxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ctamperingxe2x80x9d. The terms xe2x80x9ccheatxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccheatingxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ctamperxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ctamperingxe2x80x9d are in used reference to the manipulation of a gaming machine to cause the machine to pay-out money either when no money is due to be paid out or in excess amounts when the machine attempts to legitimately pay-out money. The terms xe2x80x9canti-cheatingxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9canti-tamperingxe2x80x9d refer to devices or methods for preventing cheating or tampering.
In another preferred embodiment, the anti-cheating device detects the presence of a cheating tool inserted through the coin chute by providing an array of emitters and detectors about the coin chute. Disruption of an energy beam emitted by the emitters and normally striking the detectors will, based on the machine owner""s preference, result in one or more of: a xe2x80x9ctiltxe2x80x9d condition of the machine; an immediate flag of the machine for service; a disabling of the coin feeder; and/or an alarm. Sensing is automatically disabled as the machine properly feeds coins out the chute to avoid false indications of tampering.